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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28001205">Moonlight sonata</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Koixchan/pseuds/Koixchan'>Koixchan</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Flower between two abysses [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Granblue Fantasy (Video Game)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst with no happy ending, F/F, I just want them to be happy....genuinely...please, Lesbian drama sound the alarm, Post grand vira fate episodes, Self-Indulgent, Spoilers for Wayfaring Astral, Tbh this is for my own peace of mind since this ship....feels like fragile happiness for me, The Talk tm, Vira POV, i think</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 19:26:57</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,149</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28001205</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Koixchan/pseuds/Koixchan</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>In the aftermath of a near death experience  Katalina and Vira finally have a talk that is six years overdue.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Katalina Aryze/Vira Lilie</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Flower between two abysses [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2050872</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Moonlight sonata</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Thank you catwanmushi for betaing and listening to me scream over this for MONTHS. Writing is hard...</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Nights on the Grandcypher were always a quiet affair.</p><p>Raduga was the only exception, but being located on the very edge of the ship meant that the lively atmosphere and warm lights were far more muted out here on the other side of the deck. Yet for all the coldness that the halls and cabins should have held, for Vira, there was a sort of comfort. Where Albion’s castle had felt caged and oppressive toward its ruler, a cage forged upon the code of knighthood and an unwavering bond, the Grandcypher was the very embodiment of freedom, able to take flight to whatever island or skydom that her passengers so desired. But it was more than just that. It held a sense of familiarity, of homeliness.  Of family.</p><p>It was to be expected. Quite frankly it was more than obvious in hindsight. However, when she first came aboard it was something Vira hadn’t come to notice. Nor its extent.  While many of the Grandcypher’s patrons were travelling with siblings, such as Heles and her younger brother Seruel, there were plenty of people from all walks of life that fit together to create a close knit unit that the crew prospered from.  In the end, that culminated into a warmth that could permeate through the very walls and brought about a feeling of ease that Vira hardly felt in her own home life. It was that comfort that made her trips towards the deck all the more pleasant and gave her moments of pause before she saw the back of the woman who awaited her on the deck, haloed by moonlight and the stars.</p><p>Ever since Rackam, Lyria and Katalina’s return from the Otherworld, things between the two women had shifted. It was difficult to decipher what had spurred her into doing such but, Katalina had taken to asking Vira to join her on the deck of the Grandcypher. Without explanation, without warning, when the moon was at its peak.</p><p> And without second thought…. Vira always agreed.</p><p> It was more than a chance to spend time with the woman that she loved; it was a litany of little moments to reaffirm that those days without her had truly come to an end. That the nights when she awoke from dreams of twisted amalgamations of flesh and snakelike skin with her face were truly unfounded.  What Vira had been greeted with that night was burned into her memory. There, the ever tall, ever gallant figure of Katalina clad in amour and all poise stood before her. It was enough that any doubt about her vanished within an instant.  What had been her walking turned into sprinting; what had been dried eyes began well up with tears as Katalina seemingly effortlessly caught her in a tight embrace.</p><p>One that Katalina returned with just as much fever.</p>
<p></p><blockquote>
  <p>(“I’m home, Vira.” She spoke in a gentle voice.</p>
  <p>“Welcome back, Katalina….”)</p>
</blockquote><p>Much of the evening after that had been spent tightly wound together, Katalina’s hand on her waist and Vira’s head nestled into her collar. The night sky was all but ignored and thus began their tradition. Every few nights Katalina would request for Vira to meet her upon the deck of the Grandcypher and every few nights they would simply indulge in the comfort of being wrapped up together whilst watching the stars twinkle in the midnight sky.</p><p>But, by the third night under the blackened sky, she noticed it. As the relief and fear that weighed on Vira’s chest faded, Katalina’s actions began to take on a more worrisome light. Upon further refection in the confines of her room, it was shameful. The amount of time it took Vira to acknowledge that those soft intimate embraces Katalina started had shifted. While the knight still held her, Katalina was ridged, and it often reflected onto her face when she thought Vira was looking at the horizon. Yet no sooner had the knight took notice that her gaze had strayed to her, the pensive look would vanish, and a placating smile was quick to take its place.  </p>
<p></p><blockquote>
  <p>(“It’s nothing Vira.”</p>
  <p>“Are you sure? You can talk to me, Katalina.” Vira’s brows furrowed worriedly. An action that only spurred Katalina to ease Vira closer.</p>
  <p>“I’m sure. But thank you for your concern.”)</p>
</blockquote><p>Katalina was hiding something.</p><p>There was no way around it. The evidence was there to prove that something was on the knight’s mind every time that they would meet under that moonlit sky. There was a reason that she was asking Vira to meet with her on those nights. One that Katalina was unwilling to broach, even with her gentle attempts to coax her into speaking of what plagued her thoughts.</p><p>She had asked Vira to meet with her again. Tonight. This would be the tenth night they did this song and dance.  Having taken this route upwards to ship’s deck so many times these past few nights, Vira could practically navigate it with her eyes closed. Yet what should have been a peaceful walk through the dimly lit halls of the Grandcypher was anything but. A sense of anxiety, of apprehension, had settled in the pit of Vira’s stomach.  </p><p>It couldn’t be left alone any further. As skilled as Katalina was at concealing, redirecting and lying to others regarding her own worries, this could not stand. Vira could not let it stand for another night.</p><p>Upon reaching her destination Vira was met with scene she had seen on repeat. There, leaning against the wooden banister, was Katalina. Ever tall, ever gallant, clad in armour. But, Vira knew better than that by now, that was a lie. It was evident to almost a pitiful extent when she took a moment to look at the scene objectively. From where she stood Vira could see how stiff her shoulders were, how tightly clenched her fist were griping the fabric of her shirt. It was only when she drew closer that Katalina’s posture slackened, her body turning to welcome Vira closer, and a small smile stretched across her lips.  Even though she knew it was fake, momentarily Vira couldn’t help but return that smile with her own.</p><p>It was hard to decipher whether it was a testament to how much better Katalina had gotten in shielding herself behind a version Vira would want to see or how strongly Vira’s feelings for the woman had grown from mere idolisation to genuine love. Regardless of the reason, she couldn’t let this fleeting tenderness be a distraction. Not when that tenderness was the basis that pushed Vira  to act where Katalina failed to. Finally taking her place beside the knight, their usual silence was cut short.</p><p>“Katalina what is this about?”</p><p>“I don’t regret my actions in Albion.”</p><p>“What…” Vira’s expression shifted to one of confusion as she looked up to woman beside her. The swiftness of her response as well as the words itself left her reeling. Almost as if the words had simply lingered on her tongue in wait, in anticipation for Vira's prodding. Katalina’s smile was nowhere and her gaze remained forward to the blackened horizon.  Almost like it hadn’t been there at all.</p><p>“Back then-”  At Vira's astonished reaction, she started again. “When we duelled to decided who would be the next Lord Commander of Albion. Looking back on it… I realised that I didn’t regret the action itself; I regretted it that I did it to you.”</p><p>Vira’s lips thinned and brows furrowed.  </p><p>So that was it…</p><p>Not just the decision of two foolhardy children, but the decisions of a grown woman that had stood upon the wrong side of the Erste Empire’s battles. Though the confusion she felt was abated with this confirmation, the uncomfortable feeling in her stomach continued to grow. “What does it matter?” The topic was uncharted water between the two of them for good reason. The chances of them venturing further into the depths resulting in a positive breakthrough were slim to none. There was no reason in her mind to dredge up a past they had moved on from, one that would only lead to heartache.</p><p>“Why are you bringing this up now, Katalina?”</p><p>Katalina’s hand left the banister that it had clenched tightly to find a place upon Vira’s shoulder; the knight facing her, frame haloed by the moonlight. “You deserve to know what sort of knight I became of my own volition, Vira. To know the full brunt of who I am, who I have been since the six years that I abandoned you.”</p><p>“But I do know you, Katalina,” Vira stressed.  “We both have done things we regret. You and I both have changed since then and moved on.” There is sound reasoning in her explanation. After all, it was something that she had admitted to herself once before. That the woman that stood before her had vastly changed from the girl she knew when they with both but children. Yet now was much too late for this response. It didn’t settle well with Vira, a full six years after the fact. It only ensured that her agitation grew ever steadily.</p><p>“Why are you so determined to dreg this up when I’ve already forgiven you?”</p><p>" I don’t want you to forgive me because of what we were!"</p><p>“That is not for you to decide Katalina! <em>What we were</em>… " Vira staggered, wrenching herself away from her. What they <strong>were</strong>.</p><p>Katalina was a woman that was stuck in the past.</p><p>Though she was steadfast as to not make it so apparent to those around her, it was an observation that Vira had seen with the rekindling of their friendship as it melded into something more intimate. She would be lying to herself if it wasn’t one of the first things that struck her about Katalina when she gained her own sense of clarity. But, the realisation that even now, that six years later, that mindset had festered and become so deeply rooted in her that she couldn’t see who she was now, who they both were now.</p><p>“Is this what you have tried to say these past nights? Is that what this has been all about?” Vira so desperately wanted to understand the reason for this, to look at it from her perspective and yet it hurt far too much to dwell any further. It felt like a wound, one that had scabbed over and reduced to a scar that marred her skin had been forcefully ripped open and Vira left to bleed out.  And where she was left to bleed, Katalina stood there resolutely, her hands dripping in the aftermath of the deed.</p><p>“Vira, we can’t simply ignore this. I need you to truly understand-”</p><p>“Enough, Katalina!” Vira’s outburst echoed in the emptiness of the deck. She could feel a familiar tug in the back of her mind, Chevalier gently prodding as an offering to take control. Vira ignored that request, instead opting to turn away from the knight.  “I understand perfectly what <em>you</em> want.”</p><p>“You wanted me to see the woman you have become, and I see now. But you refuse to see me.”</p><p>“Vira- “</p><p>“I am not the little girl you left behind in Albion.” Vira’s hands fist shook as she spoke firmly, clearly for them both to hear.  “You may not be able to accept or want to see it, but I am not her.”</p><p>Vira didn’t allow her the chance to respond.  She couldn’t bear to look at her. To hear another word from her mouth.  The walk back below the bowels of the Grandcypher were a blur in comparison to the agonizingly slow assent that she had made what seemed to be so long ago. If there was anyone within the halls that she passed, Vira could not remember, any words spoken to her mere white noise compared to the words that were burned into her very skull.</p><p><strong>What they were</strong>. How could she say such a thing?  If there was one thing that Vira could hate about Katalina, it was that. Her willingness to ignore the present before her to repent for the sins she had committed. It would have been preposterous to think about six years ago. That she could hate her. Even in her lowest moment alone in Albion the thought had never occurred to Vira. It wasn’t a concept that had ever crossed her mind.</p><p>Yet it was one that she felt confident did not stem from a place of anger.</p><p>Disbelief and frustration melded together as Vira sunk into her bed, her nails digging into her arms as the ever-familiar feeling drifting away settled in.  Chevalier, her ever faithful companion, ushering her to a safe haven where she might find refuge to let out her emotions without alerting those who slept in quarters akin to her.</p><p>As her consciousness slipped one truth remained.</p><p>Katalina had not followed.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I've never written Vira ever in my LIFE but, I got the seal of approval from a trusted friend and that's enough for me. I wish Cygames would stop jerking me around and just let these women be happy AND on the same page for once.  PLEASE. LIGHT KATALINA  W H EN *RATTLES MY CAGE*</p></blockquote></div></div>
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